Protesters’ cartoonish reply to ban
Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters have donned cartoon character masks as they formed human chains across the semiautonomous Chinese city in defiance of a government ban on face coverings at public assemblies.
Gathering along the city’s subway lines, many protesters masqueraded as Winnie-the-Pooh or Guy Fawkes while holding up their phone lights and chanting slogans calling for a ‘‘revolution of our times’’.
Chinese internet users have joked that Chinese President Xi Jinping resembles the cartoon bear, leading the country’s censors to block online references to the character.
The protesters were taking a light-hearted approach to oppose the government’s decision this month to invoke colonial-era emergency regulations banning face masks at rallies as it struggles to contain the chaotic protest movement.
The peaceful event overnight on Friday came ahead of a mass rally planned for today to press the protesters’ demands. Police have refused to authorise the march, citing risks to public safety and order.
Hong Kong’s leader has said the ban on masks, which have become a hallmark of the protests, is aimed at deterring radical behaviour. Offenders can be punished by up to a year in prison. Protesters say they wear masks out of fear of retribution and concern that their identities will be shared with China’s massive state security apparatus.
Some protesters assumed the identity of Xi or Hong Kong’s deeply unpopular Beijing-backed leader, Chief Executive Carrie Lam. Some parodied NBA basketball star LeBron James, who has been criticised for caving in to China’s communist leaders after he suggested that free speech can have consequences.
The protesters’ aim was to form human chains extending 40 kilometres across Hong Kong by tracing the city’s subway system, mimicking a similar event in August.